Hey there from South Africa

[Crankberry]

On your bike the sleeve is nickel-plated

I don't know anything about that. It could always get re-bored.

You should be able to get some oversize pistons. I believe they are a special order though. There is always the High compression route if you want to beef up the BHP and turn the bike into a different animal all together http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... it=pistons

As for the headlight it's probably best to sell it through ebay. You want be able to sell on here until you have built up your post count a bit.

(:-})

Thanks for that link Carl. Think I should read all posts by tony first before I open my mouth again.... .

From what I've read on here nobody has ever spoken about any sort of plating on the sleeves(hence the comment : "Whats up with that? Is he smoking something or is there something to it?"). Just read about a coating on the pistons(The high-comp ones). I am definitely planning to go that route. It's just a pain to find oversize pistons from JE so far. the only ones I have seen on E-bay are all std. I've sent the guys from JE an e-mail to quote me on oversize pistons and rings but still waiting for a reply......

[dragonback]

"Hi rob. thanks. I didn't change the color. I was driving so fast one day that the bike changed color by itself...... I think she decided that the yellow was slowing her down.... " I KNEW IT !! black is internationaly the faster bike colour !!!

[Crankberry]

"Hi rob. thanks. I didn't change the color. I was driving so fast one day that the bike changed color by itself...... I think she decided that the yellow was slowing her down.... " I KNEW IT !! black is internationaly the faster bike colour !!!

There's almost more blue in that mix than black..... The color changes depending on how the sun falls on it. I just didnt get to polishing her properly yet.... I took Metallic black + mixed lots of pearlescent blue and irredescent blue into it. Gives it a very interesting appearance.....

[VTRDark]

Think I should read all posts by tony first before I open my mouth again.... .

It's not a problem, ask away.

I am definitely planning to go that route. It's just a pain to find oversize pistons from JE so far. the only ones I have seen on E-bay are all std. I've sent the guys from JE an e-mail to quote me on oversize pistons and rings but still waiting for a reply......

Couple of things you should be aware of first. Before ordering any pistons, the piston bore clearances should be measured, you may be able to use standard size from them. If not then you could go oversize but JE oversize are a special order and only come in fours. So be prepared to sell 2 on.

Also with the high comp the bike will run hotter so it may be a good idea to upgrade the oil cooler. Sp1 coolers are a good upgrade. And with high compression engines they can only run on the more expensive higher octane fuel.

My advice to you is to not rush into things and do some research first.

(:-})

[Crankberry]

Couple of things you should be aware of first. Before ordering any pistons, the piston bore clearances should be measured, you may be able to use standard size from them. If not then you could go oversize but JE oversize are a special order and only come in fours. So be prepared to sell 2 on.

Also with the high comp the bike will run hotter so it may be a good idea to upgrade the oil cooler. Sp1 coolers are a good upgrade. And with high compression engines they can only run on the more expensive higher octane fuel.

My advice to you is to not rush into things and do some research first.

(:-})

The engineering shop did measure + they said the sleeves are oval. the only way to clean that is to rebore(according to them). I am on the lookout for an oil cooler & already running dual fans on the radiators. Octane shouldn't be a problem either. here we have 93 and 95 octane and I prefer the 95 anyways(company pays for my fuel at least). It looks like my biggest problem would be the extra 2 pistons(Suppose I could sell them on e-bay or something..depending on how much they charge for 4....)

I don't really wanna go stock oversize if I don't have to....

[Rob]

As far as I know engine failure is quite rare (unless CCT's fail)

How many Km's has your bike done? Or on strip down did you find a reason for the failure?

Not important, just interested

[Crankberry]

As far as I know engine failure is quite rare (unless CCT's fail)

How many Km's has your bike done? Or on strip down did you find a reason for the failure?

Not important, just interested

Hi Rob. The bike has +- 52000km(or 32500miles) on the clock. The engine failure was mostly due to user error. The bike was using a bit of oil since I got her. It got to a point where she was using a lot more oil than I expected + was running a bit late the one night to go fetch my daughter. Grabbed the bike + took off without checking the oil. Apparently the oil was very low and damaged the bigends..... Ie : All my fault......

Very expensive mistake from my side. And even with all the damage it's still cheaper to repair the engine than to replace in SA.... repairs est : R 8000-9000. 2nd hand engine replacement : R15000.00 and then you have no idea what condition the engine is in....

[tony.mon]

Re the plating comment, it might be that you've picked up on the option of a special low-friction coating that some piston mnfrs offer.

I think Mikstr on the Superhawk forum paid extra and had his done.

But the piston's don't seem to wear on these engines, even when I've stripped an engine and it's needed a rebore the original machining marks on the pistons are still showing- but of course once the cylinders are rebored you have to buy oversize pistons anyway.

The bores wear; maybe Honda used a softer cylinder liner than they should have, or just fitted bloody tough pistons.

More likely the latter, as then they'll be able to withstand the detonation that can be caused by inefficient burning of a large charge and only a single plug.

[Crankberry]

Re the plating comment, it might be that you've picked up on the option of a special low-friction coating that some piston mnfrs offer.

I think Mikstr on the Superhawk forum paid extra and had his done.

But the piston's don't seem to wear on these engines, even when I've stripped an engine and it's needed a rebore the original machining marks on the pistons are still showing- but of course once the cylinders are rebored you have to buy oversize pistons anyway.

The bores wear; maybe Honda used a softer cylinder liner than they should have, or just fitted bloody tough pistons.

More likely the latter, as then they'll be able to withstand the detonation that can be caused by inefficient burning of a large charge and only a single plug.

Hi Tony. You are spot on there about my reference about the coating on the piston from the SH Forum although my first reference was about the cylinder liner. The one guy here in SA(a Wiseco agent none the less) said that my cylinder liners were also coated. Thats why I asked because from what I could make out from your posts and quite a few other guys that rebuilt engines no-one said anything about a coating on the liner.....

Right now looks like my biggest problem is going to be to find only 2 JE oversized pistons.....

My pistons still look relatively good(Just too small after rebore) :

[Crankberry]

Just an update. Received this e-mail from JE Pistons :

Hi Christo,

You have a couple choices. We have a 4 piece minimum on custom orders so we have to charge a surcharge on 2 parts. 2 parts with rings, pins, and clips would be about 500.00 plus shipping. However, if your bore will clean up at .010 over instead of .020, I can make you a slightly oversized version of our shelf part and the price would be about 325.00 plus shipping which I would guess to be about 250.00.

Thank you for choosing JE Pistons!

Tj
(714) 898-9763 ext. 4234 (Direct)
(714) 379-8213 (Fax)

I spoke to the engineering shop today as well and they said there is no way it will clean up under 0.020.

Ie : Im gonna have to pay for 4 custom oversized pistons & that comes down to +- R4075.00 for the 4 pistons excl p+p .... Ouch.

Suppose I will have to do some thinking....

And the next post about this build will be on the workshop thread when I get this build going. I've got a few other plans as well ......

Thanks for all the help so far. Will keep you guys updated...

[VTRDark]

The initial outlay is expensive, but if you sell the other two pistons on it don't seem to bad. It's just a shame they will only sell them in 4's.

How about putting two v twin engines side by side in the frame and link them up. V4 storm. You will outrun a cheetah on that.

I look forward to the build thread.

(:-})

[Crankberry]

The initial outlay is expensive, but if you sell the other two pistons on it don't seem to bad. It's just a shame they will only sell them in 4's.

How about putting two v twin engines side by side in the frame and link them up. V4 storm. You will outrun a cheetah on that.

I look forward to the build thread.

(:-})

Spoke to the piston guys again. It sounds like they are only going to charge me for the labour it would have cost to make 4 pistons. would have been $750 other wise . Will probably order my pistons somewhere next week. and then the fun starts......

Just imagine what a V4 storm would be like....

[Crankberry]

Hey guys.

Got some good news and bad news. Fixed up my Storm with stock parts and she was running as goods as new but earlier this week I went to a local dealer, made the mistake of test riding a Boulevard m109r and fell in love..... traded in the Storm on a brand new Boulevard today. Thanks a lot for all your help when I had problems with mine. I hope you guys continue enjoying your Storm's as much as I did mine. I will miss her.

Maybe in time I wil get another Storm to build up just for track.

Christo

Last pic of the storm next to her Replacement


And the newest member of the Family :

[Rob]

Well, it's certainly something very different. At least you've stuck with a V-Twin.

Let us know what you think once you've got used to it

[dragonback]

omg dude ! its orrible ! ............... but each to thier own i guess , beauty is in the eye of the beholder n all that , you aint lost your sight have you ?
well you gotta get a storm for the track ! oh and you gotta invite all of us over for xmas